The present invention relates generally to content control systems for limiting access by children to certain types of content. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of setting the content rating parameters of such a system based on content rating of example content.
The exposure of children to inappropriate material, such as sexual content, violence, coarse language, and so forth, in media such as television, radio, and the Internet has become a great concern. Recent technological developments allow greater parental control of material to which children are exposed. For example, many televisions now include devices that decode program rating data encoded into a program at the time it is broadcast to selectively pass or block television programming based on the rating level set. Similarly, software programs have been developed that block access to Internet material containing content that may be deemed inappropriate for young children.
Such content control technologies potentially eliminate the need for content censorship, thus providing greater freedom of expression for broadcasters, Web page authors, and the like, while providing an opportunity for parents to control, even in their absence, children""s access to media content according to their own values and child-rearing philosophy. However, because existing content control systems place the responsibility of protecting children from viewing inappropriate material with parents, even the most fail-safe of parental control technologies will be of little value if parents are unable or unwilling to exercise this responsibility.
A major reason parents fail to effectively use existing content control systems to block objectionable content is the confusing nature and variety of ratings utilized by existing ratings schemes. For example, television broadcasts may use MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rating schemes having ratings such as G, PG, PG-13, R, and/or broadcast television rating (TV rating) schemes having ratings such as TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA. In some TV rating schemes, a xe2x80x9cfantasy violencexe2x80x9d (FV) indicator may be added to the TV-Y rating, and indicators for violence (V), sexual situations (S), language (L), and dialog (D), may be added to each of the TV-PG, TV-14, and TV-MA ratings. Similarly, DVD rating systems may employ a numbered rating system, for example, a scale from 1-10, with associated MPAA ratings. Internet blocking software, while not yet utilizing an established rating system, nevertheless classify Internet material by content themes such as course language, inappropriate sexual content, violence, or the like. Parents may be confused by this myriad of rating systems and may not fully understand what ratings of such systems represent or how they are applied to the content. Further, the type of content encompassed by the ratings of such ratings schemes is subject to change over time as societal values change. Thus, a rating given to existing content may in the future become inappropriate for that content. For instance, a television program employing a TV ratings scheme may be assigned a TV-G rating even though it contains a limited amount of mild violence. However, future events may dictate that exposure of children to violent content of any kind is undesirable, and should result in such content warranting a TV-PG rating. A parent wishing to block content containing any violence may thus block content having ratings equal to or exceeding TV-PG. If the television program is thereafter rebroadcast without adjustment of its rating, the parent may be surprised to find that the program is not blocked as expected because of its violent content, due to its original TV-G rating.
Because various media employ different rating schemes and different user interfaces, and because the meaning of ratings utilized in such schemes may change over time, user of parental locking systems may be confusing. In some instances, a user may believe that certain rating levels may prevent access to objectionable subject matter when in fact such objectionable subject matter is passed. As additional rating schemes become more commonplace, such as electronic program guide (EPG) or DSS ratings, digital television (DTV) ratings, Web page ratings, and the like, it is probable that use of content control systems to filter content will become more and more difficult because of the confusing nature of the various ratings schemes and the lack of knowledge of what ratings of such schemes represent.
Therefore, there exists a need for a content control system capable of allowing a user to set acceptable content rating parameters for filtering media content, wherein the user in not required to have specific knowledge of the content ratings schemes used by the media, or the meaning of content ratings within the ratings scheme.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of setting content rating parameters of a content control system. Employing the present method, a user may set acceptable content rating parameters based on the rating of example content by blocking or unblocking the example content. The content ratings system compares the content rating of the example content with existing acceptable content rating parameters and adjusts the content rating parameters accordingly. In this manner, specific knowledge of the content ratings scheme employed, or the meaning of specific content ratings used by the content ratings scheme, is not required.
In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of presenting example content having an associated content rating to a user and receiving user input to block or unblock future access to programs having a content rating similar to the example content. The content control system then compares the content rating of the example content to previously set acceptable content rating parameters and adjusts the content rating parameters of the system based on the comparison to block or unblock future access to the example content and content similar to the example content.
In embodiments of the invention, the method may be implemented as a program of instructions executable by one or more information appliances including but not limited to digital information appliances, information handling systems, televisions, DVD devices, VCR devices, and the like. The program of instructions when executed causes the information appliance to perform the steps of the method.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.